According to statements by the TSE’s Secretary of the Chamber, Fernando Arteaga, there will be no second round of voting, and Revilla, who only obtained 20.02 percent of the votes in the first round, is consolidating his position as governor after the leadership of the New Patriotic Generation (NGP) party officially withdrew from the runoff, to the detriment of its candidate, Rene Yahuasi (9.18 percent of the vote).

“With this decision, there is no second round in the department of La Paz,” Arteaga stated at a press conference, shortly after the official notification sent to the Electoral Body informing of NGP’s withdrawal from the election scheduled for April 19 between Revilla and Yahuasi was made public.

Initially, a second round was necessary, since in the March 22nd elections neither candidate obtained more than 50 percent of the vote nor 40 percentage points with a 10-point difference from the second-place candidate.

“We request that the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) accept our withdrawal from the second round in the department of La Paz,” states the petition signed by NGP delegates Juan Jose Vargas and Karina Rico.

For his part, Yahuasi denounced on the television program “Behind the Truth” that the NGP leadership demanded 71 percent of the governorship’s administration from him should he win with the support of the Aymara population of the 20 provinces of La Paz, from which he comes.

jdt/jav/otf/jpm

La